The U.S. Army Legal Services Agency Shoulder Sleeve Insignia, or unit patch, was approved on 8 May1984. It features a Roman-style shield with a quartered field of countercharged dark blue and white, branch colors of The Judge Advocate General’s Corps, and with a border of gold for excellence and achievement.
An upright sword in the center, also rendered in gold, symbolizes the Agency’s direct relationship with the military; it also recalls the Romans some of the earliest lawmakers in Western Civilization. The scale in the upper half of the shield is a centuries-old image for justice, while the globe in the lower portions is an allusion to the Agency’s worldwide legal activities.
The origins of U.S. Army Legal Services Agency (USALSA) go back to 15 March 1973 and its creation as a Field Operating Agency under the command and staff supervision of The Judge Advocate General. Several of its elements— Office of the Chief Judge, Court of Military Review, Trial Judiciary and Examination, Clerk of Court, and New Trials Division—were
classified together as the United States Army Judiciary.
The need for such an agency can be gleaned from how rapidly it expanded over the next fifteen years, which saw the Regulatory Law Office (1977) become part of the Agency and the subsequent establishment of the Trial Defense Service (1980), Trial Counsel Assistance Program (1982), Information Management Officer (1983), Army Court Martial Information System (1986), and Litigation Division (1987), to name a few of the more notable additions.
Today, the USALSA is made up of over 20 different offices and activities found across the globe, with a workforce comprising nearly 500 assigned personnel from both the Army (active duty Soldiers and mobilized Reservists) and the civilian sector. It is headquartered at Fort Belvoir, Virginia.
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